Railroad-chair



(NO el.)

G. V. LINEND RAILRO R.

Patented July 1'7, 1888.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE V. LINENDOLL, OF COLDlVATER, MICHIGAN.

RAILROAD-CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 386,144, dated July 1'7, 1888.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE V. LINENDOLL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Coldwater, in the county of Branch and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Chairs; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in railroad-chairs, and it has for its object to provide a simple, cheap, and convenient chair for coupling and retaining securely in place the meeting ends of sections of railway-rails, wherebyall tendency or liability of the sections thus coupled to work loose is prevented.

To this end theinvention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, to which reference is had, and which fully illustrate my invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the chair, and Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in the several figures.

A represents the main portion of a railroad chair, the upper surfaces of which are inclined at an angle of about forty-five degrees upon one side where the rails are inserted, and on the other side at an angle of about thirty de grees, and is preferably made of cast shearsteel, but, if desired, may be made of any suitable metal. This chair A has a longitudinal groove, (1, formed in the larger portiou,A,near its base, for the reception of one of the basetlanges of a rail-section. The other portion,A, of the chair, which is upon the opposite side of the rail-sections,has formed therein a longitudinal wedge-shaped groove, as atb I). From the apex of this wedge-shaped groove is another longitudinal semi-wedgeshaped groove, 21*, within which is snugly but loosely fitted and allowed to slide a sliding block, B, having in ita longitudinal groove, a, corresponding with the groove a in the main portion A of the chair. lhe base-flanges of these sections of the rails take into these grooves a a, where they are securely held, this block B otherwise in its construction being provided with wedge-shaped projections or flanges 0*, corresponding with and sliding in the longitudinal grooves I) b b in the chair. A key is inserted ina noteh,a,cut in the base-flange ofone ofthe rail-sections on one side, by which means the sliding block B is prevented from sliding from its position in the center of the meeting ends of the rail-sections, (said key not being shown in the drawings.)

0 represents the top, and O the side pieces, ofa removable locking cap or cover for the chair, the lower end of which fits snugly up against a flange, I), upon the forward and up per portion, A, of the chair; and near the upper end of this cap or cover is aslotthrough which a staple, c, is passed, the free ends of which are fastened or driven into the block B,

the looped end of the staple projecting above the cover, and through which is passed a key, d, for securing the locking-cover to the chair and its sliding block. A great advantage is derived from this looking cap or cover, as it serves to hold the parts of the chair together, and at the same time operates to protect them from any foreign substance that may get wedged in between the grooves in the chair and sliding block and prevent the operation of the chair and sliding block when it is necessary to withdraw the latter from the chair for the substitution of other rail-sections.

From the foregoing description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the operation of my device will be obvious, but may be briefly stated as follows: \Vhen it becomes necessary to replace the old railsections with new ones, the cap or cover is removed by the operator withdrawing the key from the staple in the sliding block, when the sliding block itself can then be withdrawn longitudinally from its position in the chair, andthe rail-sections can then be taken out of the chair. To replace the same or other railsections for those taken out, the operator first inserts the base-flanges upon one side of the rail-sections in the groove in the main or larger portion of the chair, when the groove in the sliding block bites the base-flanges upon the opposite side of the rail-sections, and the sliding block is gently slidon over the base-flange and in the grooves in the smaller or narrower portion of the chair, and it is thus restored to its normal or proper place. The cap or cover is then replaced upon the chair, and the key is passed through the staple, thus firmly binding all of the parts of the chair and railsections firmly togethcrinsuch a manner that all tendency orliability of these parts to loosen by the constant strain upon them by the weight of the cars passing over the rails is obviated.

Having thus described myinvention, whatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a railroad-chair, the combination, with the chair constructed as described, of the sliding block B, provided with the wedge and semi-wedge shaped projections or flanges If!) I) and groove a, arranged and operated substan tial] y as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a railroad-chair, the combination, with the chair having the groove (1 and wedgeshaped and semi-wedge-shaped grooves 11 b 1) formed therein, as described, of the sliding block B, having the wedge and semi-wedge shaped projections I) b b, and the cover 0, having a slot in it near its upper end,through which the staple c, secured to the block B,pr'ojects, and a key, d, passed through the staple, whereby the several parts of the chair and rail-sections are locked together, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE V. LINENDOLL. Witnesses:

FRANKLIN T. EDDY, SCOTT MOLANE. 

